After You by Jojo Moyes

Published: September 23rd, 2015

by: Pamela Dorman Books/Penguin

Series: Me Before You #2

Genres: Adult Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, European Lit

Format: ebook

Source: Library

My Rating: 4 Stars 

“You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.”

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

 

My Thoughts

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers for Me Before You. If you haven’t read that book, then I suggest NOT reading this review.*

The thing about reading a sequel to a book that made you think hard and lose all sense, is that you expect it to be worthy. You want it to be one that you won’t regret reading. You want it to make you fall in love with the author and just go out and buy all of her books. That didn’t happen here. However much I love this sequel, it still isn’t as epic as that first book. Sure, we all want to know what happens to Lou after book one. This is totally not what I expected. I’m sure that when Will Traynor told Lou to live, he did not mean being at the scene of a gang initiation. I bet he rolled over in his grave on that one. I felt like I was reading about a whole different set of characters. Then again, everyone changes. Here’s what you have to look forward to with this sequel.

Lou and her grief

We all know how she feels. Will Traynor left an impression, and it is really hard for Lou to move on. She did the traveling thing, but since being back in London she is stuck. Something traumatic happens, and she ends up back home with her family for a while. Come on Moyes, as if the girl hasn’t been through enough. She meets some interesting people and I’m very fond of a certain paramedic, Sam. It’s very hard for Lou to open up to him, so it sorta feels like she’s using him. He, on the other hand, has no time for games and he makes it clear to her that he wants more. 

Treena is less annoying

As annoying as she was in book one, I was actually agreeing with a lot of what she was spouting here. She got her mom started on her feminism journey and it was great. Men hate it when women take control of their lives. Dad had a hard time with how mom changes in this book. Some if it was downright hilarious. I like the direction that Treena’s life is headed, and I really see why she gets so upset when Lou throws away opportunities.

Teenage angst anyone?

Lily is quite a character. When I say that teens make the dumbest decisions, I mean that. Lily isn’t just a rebellious teen, she’s a victim. Her parents paid little attention to her, and she was so scared of the consequences of her actions, that she used Lou’s kindness against her. I guess her attitude wouldn’t make sense if there wasn’t some big thing as to why she acted the way she did. Still, I didn’t find myself going “awww”. 

There’s a lot to read in this book. I really don’t understand why the author put Lou through so much. My god, I felt bad for her. She’s already grieving, why add to it? I just didn’t see this as Lou’s “ever after”. I was perfectly content to just have the first book, but I had to click that borrow button for this. Don’t get me wrong, this book is in no way boring. It will hold your attention from page one on out. And people have their way of dealing with the aftermath of events, so I had this whole other ending for Lou in my mind. I just don’t like all that happened in this book. There’s some violence here that made no sense whatsoever. I feel like the author could’ve found another way to make Lou not feel so scared to open up. The ending only makes me want to know what happens next. See, I was fine until I read this. 

This is not a bad sequel, it’s just not what I expected. You get your favorite characters from book one, but you also get some new ones. Lou, grief, feminism, new love, and teen angst is what you have to look forward to in this book. I read this in one sitting, so it’s a very engaging read that you won’t put down until the end. Recommended!

 

Also by this author: Me Before You